The history of the world according to cats - Eva-Maria Geigl

翻译人员: Christina Wang 校对人员: Ran Lan

On May 27th, 1941, the German battleship Bismarck sank in a fierce firefight,

1941年5月27日， 德国的俾斯麦号战列舰

在一场激烈的交火中沉没了，

leaving only 118 of her 2,200 crew members alive.

2200 名船员中仅有 118 人存活。

But when a British destroyer came to collect the prisoners,

但当一艘英国驱逐舰 前来收领战犯时，

they found an unexpected survivor -

他们找到了一个意外的幸存者－－

a black and white cat clinging to a floating plank.

一只黑白的猫， 正紧紧抓住一块漂浮的木板。

For the next several months this cat hunted rats and raised British morale -

在接下来的几个月中， 这只猫抓捕老鼠并激励了英军士气

until a sudden torpedo strike shattered the hull and sank the ship.

直到一次突然的鱼雷袭击 打碎了船体，船沉没了。

But, miraculously, not the cat.

但是，奇迹般地，这只猫活了下来。

Nicknamed Unsinkable Sam,

被称为“永不沉没的山姆”，

he rode to Gibraltar with the rescued crew

这只猫跟随着救援队到了直布罗陀

and served as a ship cat on three more vessels –

并又在其它三条船上担任了船猫－－

one of which also sank - before retiring to the Belfast Home for Sailors.

其中一艘船也沉了－－直到它退役 去了贝尔法斯特水手之家。

Many may not think of cats as serviceable sailors,

很多人都认为猫不是有用的水手，

or cooperative companions of any kind.

也不是任何一种合作伙伴。

But cats have been working alongside humans for thousands of years -

但猫已在人类的身旁工作了数千年－－

helping us just as often as we help them.

帮助我们的次数 不比我们帮它们少。

So how did these solitary creatures go from wild predator to naval officer

那么这些独行侠是如何 从野生猎人演变成海军军官

to sofa sidekick?

再到沙发伴侣？

The domestication of the modern house cat

现代家猫的驯化

can be traced back to more than 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent,

可以追溯到一万多年以前， 在新月沃土地带，

at the start of the Neolithic era.

新石器时代的早期。

People were learning to bend nature to their will,

人们在学习按自己的意志来征服自然

producing much more food than farmers could eat at one time.

生产出的大量食物根本不能一次吃完

These Neolithic farmers stored their excess grain in large pits and short, clay silos.

这些新石器时代的农民把 多余的粮食存进了大坑和矮的土仓。

But these stores of food attracted hordes of rodents,

但这些食物吸引了成群的鼠类

as well as their predator, Felis silvestris lybica -

以及它们的捕食者， 利比亚猫－－

the wildcat found across North Africa and Southwest Asia.

一种分布在 北非和西南亚的野猫。

These wildcats were fast, fierce, carnivorous hunters.

这些野猫是 敏捷凶猛的肉食狩猎者，

And they were remarkably similar in size and appearance to today’s domestic cats.

它们的大小和外貌 与如今的家猫相当类似。

The main differences being that ancient wildcats were more muscular,

主要的区别是 古时的野猫肌肉更多，

had striped coats, and were less social towards other cats and humans.

身体带条纹， 且更少与其它猫和人类互动。

The abundance of prey in rodent-infested granaries

鼠患肆意的粮仓中的大量猎物

drew in these typically solitary animals.

吸引来了这些一般独居的动物。

And as the wildcats learned to tolerate the presence of humans

当这些野猫学会了在进食时 接纳了人类与其它猫的存在，

and other cats during mealtime,

we think that farmers likewise tolerated the cats in exchange for free pest control.

我们认为农民同样也接受了猫 来换取免费的害鼠控制。

The relationship was so beneficial that the cats migrated with Neolithic farmers

这种关系如此互惠 使这些猫跟随着新石器时代的农民

from Anatolia into Europe and the Mediterranean.

从安纳托利亚迁徙到了欧洲和地中海。

Vermin were a major scourge of the seven seas.

在当时的七大洋， 害鼠是主要祸害。

They ate provisions and gnawed at lines of rope,

他们会吃掉粮食，啃咬绳索

so cats had long since become essential sailing companions.

所以猫从来都是航海必不可少的伙伴。

Around the same time these Anatolian globe trotting cats set sail,

就在安纳托利亚人起航全球遛猫的时候

the Egyptians domesticated their own local cats.

埃及人驯化了当地的猫。

Revered for their ability to dispatch venomous snakes, catch birds, and kill rats,

人们敬仰它们 驱蛇、捕鸟、杀鼠的能力，

domestic cats became important to Egyptian religious culture.

家猫因而成为了 埃及宗教文化中重要的一部分。

They gained immortality in frescos, hieroglyphs, statues, and even tombs,

它们在壁画、象形文字、雕塑、甚至是坟墓中， 得到了永生，

mummified alongside their owners.

被制成木乃伊葬在主人身旁。

Egyptian ship cats cruised the Nile,

埃及船猫航行于尼罗河上，

holding poisonous river snakes at bay.

把有毒的河蛇抵御在外。

And after graduating to larger vessels,

晋升到大型船只后，

they too began to migrate from port to port.

猫也开始移居到不同港口。

During the time of the Roman Empire, ships traveling between India and Egypt

罗马帝国时代， 往来印度和埃及的船只

carried the lineage of the central Asian wildcat F. s. ornata.

承载了中亚的亚洲野猫的血统。

Centuries later, in the Middle Ages, Egyptian cats voyaged up to the Baltic Sea

几个世纪后，中世纪时期， 埃及猫随着维京海员的船

on the ships of Viking seafarers.

航行到了波罗的海。

And both the Near Eastern and North African wildcats

近东与北非的野猫

– probably tamed at this point -- continued to travel across Europe,

－－很可能此时已经被驯化了－－ 继续游走欧洲

eventually setting sail for Australia and the Americas.

最终起航前往澳洲与美洲。

Today, most house cats have descended

今天，大部分的家猫

from either the Near Eastern or the Egyptian lineage of F.s.lybica.

是利比亚猫在近东或者埃及血统的后裔。

But close analysis of the genomes and coat patterns of modern cats

但对当代猫的基因组和毛色图案的仔细分析

tells us that unlike dogs,

告诉我们

which have undergone centuries of selective breeding,

不同于狗类经历了多个世纪的选择性繁殖，

modern cats are genetically very similar to ancient cats.

现代的猫和古代的猫 基因上十分相似。

And apart from making them more social and docile,

除了使它们变得 社交互动更多、更温顺

we’ve done little to alter their natural behaviors.

人类并没有太多改变 它们的自然行为。

In other words, cats today are more or less as they’ve always been: Wild animals.

换句话来说，今天的猫或多或少 和昔日的它们一样

是野生动物、凶猛的猎人， 不把我们视作主人的动物。

Fierce hunters. Creatures that don’t see us as their keepers.

And given our long history together, they might not be wrong.

鉴于我们共同的历史， 它们可能是对的。